by www.nbc.com

Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years Tuesday night and made strong gains in the Senate, according to NBC News projections.

At midnight EST, NBC reported that the Democrats had 235 seats to 200 seats for the Republicans in the House.

Democrats cast the results as a sharp rebuke to President Bush and promised big changes in Washington.

"Last week, the vice president said [that] regardless of the outcome, the administration would go full speed ahead in the same direction," Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was well on her way to a landslide re-election in New York, told cheering supporters. "Well, I think the American people have said, 'Not so fast!'"

In tightly contested races being watched closely for their indication of the national mood, Democrats were all but running the board. NBC News projections showed the Democrats picking up more than 30 seats in the House, well more than the 15 they needed to regain control and install Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California as the nation’s first female speaker.

However, with winners projected in more than half of the nation's U.S. Senate races, Democrats had made gains but still had not won control.

Democrats needed to pick off at least three more Republicans from among competitive races in Virginia, Tennessee, Montana and Missouri to capture a Senate majority.

NBC News reported that Republican Bob Corker was the apparent winner in Tennessee over Democratic Rep. Harold Ford. The other races were still too close to call at midnight ET.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate, resurrected his career by running, and winning, as an independent, MSNBC reported.

Lieberman managed to beat businessman Ned Lamont, who won the Democratic primary by hammering the incumbent over his support for the Iraq war. Several prominent Democrats had backed Lamont after his primary victory.

But Lieberman ran a strong third-party campaign -- even picking up support from many Republican voters, who turned their backs on their party’s little-known candidate.

Lamont had conceded Tuesday, NBC Connecticut station WVIT-TV reported.

At midnight EST, these other races had projected winners:

Arizona: Incumbent Republican John Kyl over Democrat Jim Pederson.
California: Incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein over Republican Dick Mountjoy.
Delaware: Incumbent Democrat Thomas Carper over Republican Jan Ting.
Florida: Incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson over Republican Katherine Harris, a two-term House member who made her name overseeing Florida’s recount in the disputed 2000 presidential election. Her campaign was marked by a lack of money, staff changes and little support from party leaders.
Hawaii: Incumbent Democrat Daniel Akaka over Republican Cynthia Thielen.
Indiana: Republican Sen. Dick Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, coasted to a sixth term. Democrats did not field a candidate against Lugar and he took a 7-to-1 lead in early returns against Libertarian candidate Steve Osborn.
Maryland: Democrat Ben Cardin over Republican Michael Steele in a race to replace retiring Democrat Paul Sarbanes.
Massachusetts: Democrat Ted Kennedy secured an eighth term, defeating Republican Ken Chase.
Michigan: Incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow over Republican Michael Bouchard.
Minnesota: Democrat Amy Klobuchar over Republican Mark Kennedy.
Mississippi: Incumbent Republican Trent Lott over Democrat Erik Fleming.
Maine: Incumbent Republican Olympia Snowe over Democrat Jean Hay Bright.
Nevada: Incumbent Republican John Ensign over Democrat Jack Carter.
New Mexico: Incumbent Democrat Jim Bingaman over Republican Alan McCulloch.
New York: Incumbent Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton over Republican John Spencer.
North Dakota: Incumbent Democrat Kent Conrad over Republican Dwight Grotberg.
Texas: Incumbent Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison over Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky.
Utah: Incumbent Republican Orrin Hatch over Democrat Pete Ashdown.
Vermont: Political independent Bernie Sanders won the seat now held by another independent, retiring Sen. James Jeffords.
Washington: Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell over Republican Mike McGavick.
West Virginia: Re-elected to a ninth term was Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, who at 88 is the oldest and longest serving senator in the nation’s history, 48 years.
Wisconsin: Incumbent Democrat Herb Kohl over Republican Robert Large.
Wyoming: Incumbent Republican Craig Thomas over Democart Dale Groutage.
In Virginia, the race between Republican Sen. George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb, a former Republican, was still too close to call.

Democrats See Huge Gains In House

In Pennsylvania, longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon lost to challenger Joe Sestak, while disgraced former Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Ney's seat was taken by Democratic challenger Zack Space in Ohio.

In New Hampshire, Democrat Paul Hodes defeated six-term Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Bass in the state's 2nd Congressional District.

The race marks the first time since 1990 that a Democrat will hold the seat in New Hampshire's 2nd District. Hodes led for most of the night and had a 10-point lead when Bass called him to concede, WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H., reported.

"The people of New Hampshire are ready to move forward in a new direction, for a new tomorrow," Hodes said. "They have voted for change."

Hodes took the race as the possibility grew of Democrats taking over the U.S. House. In several races across the country, Democrats picked up seats, although it was not immediately clear if they would gain a majority.

"It's a great night to be a Democrat in New Hampshire," Hodes said. "It's a great night to be a Democrat in the United States of America."

Polls conducted before the election in New Hamphisre indicated that many voters were placing a high importance on the war in Iraq and the Bush administration.

Carol Shea-Porter, who unseated incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, made Iraq a cornerstone of her campaign.

"We have said all along that we need to work together," Shea-Porter said. "We're in crisis right now, but crisis is also an opportunity."

Shea-Porter conducted a grassroots campaign with little help from the national Democratic Party after early polls showed her as a long shot.

"Of all the things that happened tonight, this was perhaps the biggest surprise, and it's an indication of the scope of this defeat," Republican analyst Tom Rath told WMUR-TV.

Meanwhile, Republican congressmen in Indiana and Kentucky lost fierce battles with Democratic challengers.

In an early indication of the uphill battle Republicans face, GOP Rep. John Hostettler lost to Democrat Brad Ellsworth. Hostettler was seeking his seventh term in Indiana's 8th Congressional District.

Indiana Republicans Chris Chocola and Mike Sodrel were also beaten in a wave of early House defeats for the GOP.

In Kentucky, John Yarmuth, a liberal former newspaper columnist, defeated incumbent Bush loyalist Anne Northup.

Republican Rep. Nancy Johnson in Connecticut also lost, and two of her GOP colleagues there, Rob Simmons and Christopher Shays, were fighting for their political lives.

Vermont had a new Democratic House member in Peter Welch, who will replace Bernie Sanders -- an independent who sided with Democrats. Sanders left the House to run successfully for the Senate.

Democrats Pick Up Governorships

Democrats also saw gains in the 36 governor's races across the country.

After a bruising fight that included attack ads and an FBI probe, Democrat Bill Ritter beat Republican Bob Beauprez for Colorado's open governor's seat, retaking the office for Democrats for the first time in eight years.

Massachusetts Democrat Deval Patrick became only the second black ever elected chief executive of a state. He beat Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.

Neighboring Connecticut had turned in the only Republican governorship victory of the evening. Gov. Jodi Rell, who took over two years ago when John Rowland resigned in scandal, won handily in a re-election bid.

In Ohio, Ted Strickland easily beat Ken Blackwell.

Democrats in four states also won re-election: Phil Bredesenin Tennessee, Ed Rendell in Pennsylvania, John Lynch in New Hampshire, and Rod Blagojevich in Illinois.

Full Results Table: http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Senate

Nov. 08Pickups: Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island

Projected New House*: 231 Democrats 197 Republicans 7 Ties

* Where no independent polls exist, the 2004 election results have been used.

Dem pickups: AZ-03 AZ-05 AZ-08 CA-11 CO-07 CT-05 FL-16 FL-22 IA-01 IA-02 IN-02 IN-08 IN-09 KS-02 KY-03 LA-01 MN-01 NC-11 NH-01 NH-02 NY-20 NY-24 OH-18 PA-04 PA-07 PA-10 PA-16 TX-22 WI-08

GOP pickups:



For more about the election coverage and other related topics vist these links:

Effects of 2006 Election on the 2008 Election
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15610350

Full Election Results
http://election.cbsnews.com/campaign2006/index.shtml

The Senate Situtation
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2...2639247&page=1